Robin Redmon Wright

Reexamining Theories of Adult Learning and Adult Development through the Lenses of Public Pedagogy.

The authors examine the modernist underpinnings of traditional adult learning and development theories and evaluate elements of those theories through more contemporary lenses. Drawing on recent literature focused on “public pedagogy,” the authors argue that much learning takes place outside of formal educational institutions. They look beyond modernist narratives of adult development and consider the possible implications for critical adult learning occurring in and through contemporary fragmented, digital, media-saturated culture.

Case Studies of Internationalization in Adult and Higher Education: Inside the Processes of Four Universities in the United States and the United Kingdom

This report outlines a method for learning about the internationalization processes at institutions of adult and higher education and then provides the analysis of data gathered from the researchers’ own institution and from site visits to three additional universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was found that campus internationalization requires a deep understanding and appreciation of the institutional context. In addition, although elements of internationalization may be implemented, the findings indicate there is a need to underpin these approaches with (a) a shared understanding of what internationalization is and the ways it should ultimately impact student learning within an institution and (b) a collection of assessment methods for evaluating internationalization efforts and learning outcomes. Implications and recommendations for further research are also offered.

Popular culture, public pedagogy and perspective transformation: The Avengers and adult learning in living rooms

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of popular culture, especially prime‐time television, on women viewers’ identity development. More specifically, this study explores one television show, the 1962–1964 Cathy Gale episodes of The Avengers, as a portal to adult learning. We explored how television, as a form of public pedagogy, can help facilitate the formation of a critical or feminist identity among adult learner viewers. The research questions guiding this study were: (1) How and what did women learn from watching The Avengers? (2) How did women incorporate that learning into their lives and into their identities? (3) How did women interpret and accommodate the feminist example of Cathy Gale? Because our purpose was to investigate Cathy Gale’s impact on women, we chose a qualitative design to uncover the experiences of women who watched her in the 1960s. Unlike most television audience research conducted on female audiences, we were not researching the effects of current television viewing, but asking for life‐stories of women who watched The Avengers over 40 years ago. Data for this study were collected over a two‐and‐a‐half year period and consisted of interviews with contemporaneous viewers of the Cathy Gale Avengers episodes; interviews with scriptwriters and with Honor Blackman, the actor who played Cathy Gale; as well as numerous documents—ranging from statistics obtained at the British Film Institute to fanzines and newspaper articles of the period. Analysis revealed that, in particular historical times and situations, television viewing can become a form of critical public pedagogy, facilitating transformational learning in adult viewers that produces lasting, life‐changing effects. This investigation revealed that not only did biologically born women incorporate Cathy Gale’s feminist example into their identities and actions, but biologically born males whose core gender identity was female did also. This study shows the power of learning experiences found in the space between viewers and their television sets. It offers evidence of transformational, lifelong learning in living rooms.

(Critical) learning in/through everyday life in a global consumer culture

Abstract This article focuses on the intersection of three areas of Peter Jarvis’s work that have profoundly influenced the field of adult education generally and the authors own research trajectories, in particular: (a) learning from everyday life and in social context, (b) incidental and tacit learning in consumer societies in a globalised world (i.e. market) and (c) adult learning, citizenship and activism. Wright and Sandlin outline how Jarvis’ work has helped shape the field of adult education, and how they in turn have taken up and built upon these trajectories in their work, both exploring what Jarvis’ work can teach us about critical learning in a global consumer culture and also explicating how they and others have used his work as a starting point to move into new avenues of theoretical exploration by reframing the concepts above with a post-humanist, radical view of adult learning and identity development.

Adult Education Faculty and Programs in North America Faculty Background, Work, and Satisfaction

This article reports on the findings of a quantitative survey of North American adult education faculty and a textual analysis of websites of adult education graduate programs in North America conducted in the fall of 2013. This study examined background information about adult education faculty and programs; the nature of faculty work interests, motivations, and satisfaction; and involvement with the Commission of Professors of Adult Education. It is informed by prior studies in the field, the role of professional organizations literature as related to social capital, and the faculty satisfaction literature.

Those Mean Girls and Their Friends: Bullying and Mob Rule in the Academy.

This article highlights the stories and experiences of three White women who were victims of bullying and mobbing in academic settings. Related literature grounds their experiences and offers insights related to the phenomena including definitions of mobbing and bullying, characteristics of bullies, the prevalence of bullying and mobbing, and the effects of such behaviors on the victims.

Doctor Who Fandom, Critical Engagement, and Transmedia Storytelling

As the opening quotation indicates, many Doctor Who fans care about improving lives and curing social ills. Meisner (2011) asserts that the Doctor is “an activist” who is “an example to concerned citizens everywhere” (p. 7). While scholars differ in their interpretations of the show’s texts, most agree that many episodes contain overt anti-totalitarian storylines, progressive social messages, and educative political parallels.

Rhyme, Response, and Reflection: An Investigation of the Possibilities for Critical Transformative Learning Through Adult Poetry Reading:

This article summarizes the results of a study of 22 self-identified poetry readers. The project was designed to discover the reasons why adults read poetry, how the love of poetry was inspired, and what they learn from poetry. Through qualitative data analyses, findings indicate that via multiple reading strategies and reflective personal engagement with the prose, our participants constructed new, more critical perspectives that transformed their worldviews. Implications on how poetry and embodied, emotional, and spiritual knowing can be effective learning resources for critical transformative learning are provided.

Comics, Kitsch, and Class: An Autoethnographic Exploration of an Accidental Academic.

This article is an autoethnographical exploration of key events in the author’s life that influenced, even propelled, her into academia, despite working-class cultural and economic barriers. This study chronicles moments when circumstances converged to cause dramatic shifts in perspective that steered her toward a fulfilling life as a scholar. It also reveals the accidental nature of that journey and seeks to understand ways educators might encourage more deliberate academic pursuits for members of lower socioeconomic groups. The author argues for making universities more diverse and inclusive by recognizing the obstacles most working-class and poor students face and valuing the qualities necessary to overcome them.

Assessing Global Perspectives at a Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution: A University-Wide Effort.

Across the United States, colleges and universities are increasingly giving voice to campus internationalization. However, the benefits of this endeavor cannot be fully realized if institutions do not balance their efforts with deliberate and consistent assessment practices. This study examined the global worldviews of students, faculty, and administration/staff at a Hispanic and minority serving institution in Texas. Results indicating areas of global perspective strength and challenge for each group are highlighted. Strategies for campus internationalization that incorporate the perspectives of these groups are also discussed.